The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says healthcare workers should use homemade masks ... Homemade masks offer much less protection than surgical masks and N95 respirators.

The product has potential for use on wide-ranging healthcare items ... the largest wholly domestic surgical mask maker in the U.S., to manufacture Oxafence-containing masks.

But the Food and Drug Administration has also approved some KN95 and FFP2 masks made in China and Europe that offer comparable protection. Disposable surgical masks are also made of non-woven fabric.

Most surgical masks can filter out 95 per cent of particles that pass through them. In addition, single-use surgical masks are generally equally effective across brands, so you don’t need to ...

Visitors at many of RI's major hospitals will be asked to mask up because of "high community transmission rates of respiratory viruses." ...

A retired nurse, Sandra Falk, noted that her former colleagues encounter up to 12 hours of exposure in any shift, creating respiratory problems that double the incidence rate in the general population ...

“Staff will wear a Level 2 surgical mask (or N95 if appropriate), covering ... or in the patient care area for use in patient rooms. The rule will apply only to Brown’s Rhode Island ...

Surgical and respirator masks have effective ... "There’s no evidence linking the use of masks and hypoxia. Hypoxia is simply the lack of sufficient oxygen reaching body cells and tissues.

More:Flu has already hospitalized 139 in Rhode Island; here are tips for staying healthy According to Brown University Health, staff will wear a Level 2 surgical mask (or N95 if appropriate ...